Thailand has reopened the cave where 12 young soccer players and their coach were trapped last year in a saga that captivated the world.
The Tham Luang cave has been closed to visitors since the Wild Boars soccer team were rescued alive after nearly three weeks inside the grotto’s waterlogged corridors, but the world-famous cave in northern Chiang Rai Province was reopened on Friday, drawing about 2,000 tourists in a single day, a local conservation official said.
“We have allowed visitors to see the mouth of the cave,” said Kamolchai Kotcha, director of the local conservation office that oversees the cave.
Photo: AFP
Guests for now are not allowed beyond the entrance, from where they can peer into the cave opening, but officials said that they were considering allowing people deeper inside after surveying the safety of the route.
Some of the rescue equipment left behind — including telephone wires and hoses — could be exhibited inside the cave for visitors to view in the future, Kotcha said.
Photographs from the opening on Friday showed tourists at the site’s entry, where last year the boys’ bikes and backpacks were found — alerting local police they were likely inside.
Several books deals about the drama have been signed and the first film about the rescue premiered this month at South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival.
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